Reliance Jio has used Aadhaar for the rapid acquisition of millions of customers, according to Infosys co-founder and chairman Nandan Nilekani, who discussed India’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven future, the challenges of digital transformation, privacy concerns around AI, and more during a fireside chat with Nalin Mehta, the Managing Editor of Moneycontrol, at the 69th Foundation Day of AIMA on February 21.
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Jio's Rapid Growth and Aadhaar's Role
Nilekani, replying to a question—does India need a fresh tech intervention of its own?—said that the answer isn't about launching something entirely new; it's about recognising the transformation that has already taken place.
"Over the last 15 years, we've achieved a lot—1.3 billion Aadhaar enrollments, 80 million daily authentications, 700 million new bank accounts, mobile connectivity, Jio's rapid acquisition of customers, direct cash transfers worth hundreds of billions, UPI, etc. This transformation happened without being confrontational. The difference is in approach," Nilekani said, according to the report.
Backdrop of Jio’s Customer Acquisition
Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani announced on February 21, 2017, that "Jio has crossed the 100 million customer mark on its 4G LTE, all-IP wireless broadband network." Jio achieved this milestone in 170 days after launching services for the public on September 5, 2016, offering free voice calls and data services as part of its introductory offer.
At that time, Ambani highlighted that for 170 days, Jio had added an average of nearly seven customers to its network every single second of every single day.
"In fact, lakhs of Jio customers have already done Mobile Number Portability when moving to Jio. And this trend is increasing every day. With the Aadhaar-based process, initiating Mobile Number Portability has become a simple and fast process. I hope that more Jio customers will opt for MNP, and make Jio their permanent home," Mukesh Ambani highlighted.
Jio Prime Membership Program
Ambani also announced a custom-made program called the Jio Prime Membership Program, saying that the program is "only for current Jio customers and Jio customers who join us (Jio) on or before March 31st of this year (2017)." "Only Jio Prime members get tremendous value and are eligible for some amazing benefits," he added.
Now, Nilekani has highlighted the same while reflecting on what has been achieved over the years with Aadhaar. Nilekani's emphasis on a 'non-confrontational' approach suggests that India's next big tech leap may follow the same philosophy as Aadhaar and UPI.
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DeepSeek’s Breakthrough
Speaking on the new AI startup – China's DeepSeek, Nilekani said, "What DeepSeek has done is that they have shown that you don't need billions of dollars to create a reasonably good large language model. That's a big breakthrough."
The barrier to entry of creating AI models has significantly come down, he said, pointing towards the latest trend in AI. "The government is focused on the India AI Mission and I think we will see in the next one year, some very significant models coming from India," Nilekani added.
Three Key Use Cases
He highlighted that the PM-Kisan program is already using AI. Nilekani however, highlighted three key use cases that could have a multiplier effect on India if AI is applied to them. He stated that AI in language, education, and agriculture can be a multiplier for India.
Nilekani pointed out that India has 22 official languages and a few hundred other languages and dialects. Citing an example of a farmer in Odisha who only speaks Odiya or a farmer in West Bengal who only knows Bengali, Nilekani said, "We can use AI, LLMs (Large Language Models) to make it possible to have voice communication in a language of your choice with the computer. That dramatically expands access.
"The very fact that we can remove language as an impediment for access itself is huge. Billion people can now communicate with the computer." Nilekani added.
Nilekani also praised IIT-Madras professor Mitesh Khapra and his work in AI. "Mitesh Khapra at IIT-Madras, he's building this AI4Bharat which is part of the Bhashini program. It's amazing what he's done," Nilekani said.
AI4Bharat is a research lab at IIT-Madras that develops open-source datasets, tools, models, and applications for Indian languages.
Nilekani said AI could play a huge role in education as well by enabling micro-diagnosis of students. "It's like an ECG of their learning," he said.
"If you can improve the literacy and numeracy of children, society will benefit a lot," Nilekani said.
On agriculture, he said, "We have created Open Agri Network, which means all agri knowledge at your fingertips, with reasoning and inference capability." He also mentioned about Vistaar - an open, interoperable, and federated network - dedicated to agricultural information and advisory services to empower farmers.
"If every Indian could communicate with each other effortlessly through language, if every child can learn better with AI, and if a farmer can improve his earnings, its good enough," Nilekani said.
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AI's Impact on Jobs and Skill Development
Speaking on AI replacing human skills, Nilekani said that no matter how advanced AI becomes, it will never replace human skills like empathy, leadership, collaboration, and creativity. As AI automates more tasks, these qualities will become even more valuable—and education systems must evolve to prioritise them.
"You can have all the AIs in the world, but if you can’t get five people to work together and collaborate, then you cannot go anywhere," Nilekani said.
He believes that instead of chasing technical skills that may become obsolete, people should focus on what AI cannot replicate.
"I would rather go there and say, 'Learn skill A, B, C,' because that skill may not be relevant years from now," he said.
During the conversation, Nilekani also reiterated that the barrier to entry for creating AI models has significantly come down.
"The government is focused on the India AI Mission and I think we will see in the next one year, some very significant models coming from India," Nilekani stated.
Aadhaar as a Digital Safeguard Against Fraud
Amid growing concerns over deepfakes and online fraud, Nilekani believes that Aadhaar could serve as a safeguard.
"India is the only country which has a scam called digital arrest. I don't think any other country has digital arrest as a scam category," Nilekani noted, saying, "In some sense, Aadhaar solves the issue. If you want to show someone is a live person, you can Aadhaar authenticate him."
He then stated that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act provides a strong framework to govern the usage of AI models relying on vast amounts of data.
"People will be rightfully concerned if their data is being used and so on. Fortunately, we have a very good DPDP Act. That, I think, will also govern AI usage," Nilekani said during a conversation.
"Privacy is about personally identifiable information. As long as data is anonymised so that you cannot trace it back to a person, then you can process large amounts of data without affecting any human being," Nilekani said.
According to Nilekani, AI is already being used to detect fraudulent activities within India's Income Tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) systems.
Nilekani also emphasized the need to simplify tax laws to enhance the ease of doing business in India. "The new Income Tax Act is a big step forward because there is a lot of simplification. For ease of doing business, we need to make all these laws very simple," Nilekani said.
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AI in India
When asked if India must invest in foundational models, Nilekani stated, "It's really all about the price point. Would I spend a billion dollars to build a large language model (LLM)? No. But if I can deliver a LLM in USD 50 million, sure. The technology is moving so quickly that it’s dropping in price and becoming more efficient."
"I see AI as an opportunity, though I tend to be optimistic about everything. Yes, some jobs will be affected—certain tasks will be automated—but very few jobs will be entirely eliminated. AI will make humans more productive and create new jobs we haven’t even thought of yet. India has shortages of teachers, doctors, and skilled workers. AI can amplify human capabilities, making education and healthcare more accessible. It all depends on how you architect it—AI can be extractive (where a few control all the data and profit from it) or inclusive (where it benefits everyone). DPI is fundamentally about inclusion at scale, and AI should be too," Nilekani added.
